Former Iron Chef judge and Top Chef regular Art Smith is most known for once being the personal chef to Oprah, Lady Gaga and the Obamas. He also owns many successful restaurants, including three in Chicago, where he currently lives with his husband and their four teenage children. Amid planning to open a new restaurant in Hyde Park, Madre — a tribute to mothers, which will incorporate South American cuisine as well as employ local women and immigrants — he sat down with us to answer our “5 Questions.”
1. What made you get into this line of work?
I always loved watching my mothers and grandmothers cook. My family cooked a lot. I’ve always been really good at art and making things pretty. And then I went to FSU and I discovered that internships were like a free pass out of school. The first one I did was a five-star resort in West Virginia. Beautiful place, gorgeous. But it was 1980. The chefs were kind of grouchy, and they would just scream at me. I would run downstairs and hide in the pastry shop, and they’d look at me and say, “Well, if you’re going to hide down here, you’re going to learn.”
2. How did you get to be the personal chef for so many celebrities?
I wasn’t doing well in college. And the dean said, “You’re not a great student, but you’re a good cook.” He asked me to go over to the governor’s house to help him out. They liked me. And they said, “Well, we have a special guest, would you be interested in cooking for them?” I said, “Who’s the special guest?” And they said, “Mikhail Baryshnikov.” I said, “I’m there.” I had just seen the movie White Nights. They hired me as a chef, and it all started like that. It’s all strictly word of mouth. Once you cook for a head of state, you are granted a security clearance and that clearance goes with you. In the ’90s, when I moved to Chicago, they had a difficult time trying to find someone to cook for Princess Diana, and they called me and said, “We think you’re the only one could really pass Scotland Yard security.” And I did, and I cooked for her, and then I cooked for four or five of the royals. It’s all about trust. You have to come from a history of security. Not anybody could do it. It’s a very special job.
3. What’s one of your most memorable dining experiences?
In Jerusalem, in the Old City, there’s this wonderful family that has been making hummus for 300 years. You take some fresh bread from the bakery, and you go over to that place, and you dip that crunchy, fresh, hot bread in that hummus. That truly is one of the most incredible experiences. It was so simplistic and delicious. Incredible. I’ll be honest with you, the majority of the hummus that you buy is garbage. They’re always too thick. They don’t have enough tahini and they’re just not good.
4. What are the three things you must have in your fridge or pantry at all times?
We always have oatmeal. High quality yogurt. Like a Greek yogurt, because you can use it and put into anything. And I always have really, really amazing olive oil.
Yes, a lot. I have a saying that whatever you do, wherever you go, you take a little bit back with you. So, you come in my kitchen, you’ll find ingredients from all over the world because I tasted those flavors, and now I’ll introduce them. I’m not a trained chef. My expertise is in diplomacy. I know quality food. I’m a good people person. And then, as Oprah Winfrey once told me: “What you don’t know, you hire.”